Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, or its characters, or the display picture :}!
Chapter 1
Perhaps it is crazy to say that in spite of the eight years of drudgery, loathing, and agonizing tolerance of the smug, hateful man whose name she can't even bear to utter, Nami is now someone...happy.
Happy.
A word she long ago deserted; a word that no longer fit in her dictionary of emotions. Why should it? she would think. Her beloved Bellemere was shot dead. Gen's scars would bore into her already wounded spirit, each and every time he looked at her with that tint of disappointment, that discontented hue that seemed so subtle but felt like a searing pierce to her heart. For as long as she can remember, she endured the resentment all the townspeople felt towards her; but of course. Why wouldn't they hate her? her thoughts used to constantly scream. She, after all, had agreed to let the shameful, treacherous tattoo of the man who killed her mother be carved into her arm, for what she feared to be forever.
She resorted to stealing, trickery, the art of charming men, and learned of the best places to hide and stay out of sight. She was, on numerous occasions, chased by shrouds of aristocrats when she failed to sneak in their palaces quietly enough; and no matter the number of times she 'betrayed' Arlong and tried giving his name up to the military force, they wouldn't spare her a glance. And nor would he. She more often than not forgot how incredibly sly and skillful that sorry excuse of a man was. He took all precautions needed to make sure he was looked upon in society as someone generous, kind, and most importantly, innocent. Who in the world, after the numerous, unskillful thefts she took part in, would believe her words?
He was the kind of man to, in the very pit of shadows, take her precious townspeople's money, and keep them quiet through intimidation and threat. But she knew that no matter how many times she tried doing something, tried to get someone to listen, he wouldn't dare hurt her.
Because, quite simply: he needed her.
She was, after all, and still is, the very best cartographer a person could hope to come across. Skilled cartographers were rare, making him determined to use her for her skillfulness. He needed someone that knew East Blue like the back of their own hand. And she, of course, was the perfect pick.
She wasn't working for him for no reason, evidently. They agreed that if she were to gather one hundred million belis and hand them over, regardless of how long it took her, whether it was ten, fifteen, or twenty years, she could buy her treasured town back.
"I'd rather die than break a promise when it comes to money," he dared to say to her with his ever vexing sneer, placing his bulky, gruff palm atop her small, trembling copper head. "Take all the time you need. I will keep my promise."
Maybe she was stupid, foolish even, and deeply desperate for any sign of hope to actually believe his words.
So no, for a long, long time, she couldn't call herself a happy girl.
Yet, and it astounds her until this very day that a group of rookie, wacky men with long noses, swirly brows and moss-for-hair led by a scrawny, happy-go-lucky dork were the ones to reach out and pull her out of the nightmare she once feared was to be eternal.
...
Nami smiles.
She really loves their guts, those idiots.
"Nami!" Nojiko's voice rings out like a tinkling wind chime on a breezy summer morning. The hope within her blossoms through her mesmerizing turquoise eyes as she wipes the trickling bead of sweat off her forehead. Her hand slips a shiny pair of barber scissors out of her apron and, swinging it playfully with her index finger, Nojiko flashes her younger sister a smile. "All set?"
Nami returns it with a slightly childish, mischievous grin. "Go for it."
The soft noise of the snipping scissors fills the cartographer's ears as she watches various wisps of vibrant orange hair flow down her face and fall onto her bare shoulders. Whilst getting her hair cut from short to shorter, Nami grabs a sheet of Kleenex, wipes the vivid red lipstick off her lips, and then carefully takes her valued pair of pearl earrings off before safely packing them away.
Nojiko lets loose a satisfied puff of air and steps back to admire her work.
"Not half bad, eh?" she says, brushing Nami's neck to get rid of any excess hair strands. "For a boy's haircut, I must say I did a pretty darn good job!"
Nami's supposedly well-thought-out plan of temporarily converting into a male is going fairly well, or so she believes, seeing how a girl as feminine as she, is slowly, but surely, starting to come off as 'manly'.
As manly a female with such extreme feminine qualities can possibly get, that is.
Inevitably, one problem remains up in the air.
"My chest," she mutters grouchily, gazing down at her breasts which, needless to say, are one of her most prominent features.
Laughing at her younger sister's obvious distress, Nojiko disappears and reappears in a flash with two absurdly wide, stretchable bands to hide the bloomers, and a sweatshirt Nami recognizes as one of Luffy's. She frowns, confused.
"Your friends dropped off a lifetime worth of their clothes this morning," her sister explains as she crosses her arms against her own troublesome chest. "Since you're as stubborn as a mule and insisted on doing this, we're all gonna butt in with as much help as we can."
Nami cracks an appreciative smile. "I know you want me to fulfill my dream, Nojiko. But you and I both know that neither of us can truly go about our goals unless Gen-san and the town are in good shape. So let's do our best, ne?"
Nojiko cocks her head in mild awe.
"Always selfless, always putting the lives of others before your own…" she smiles, "You never change, Nami."
…
The somewhat rickety car belonging to her friend Zoro screeches to a halt in front of the entrance to the town's local health center, Donquixote Hospital. Nami, nibbling the insides of her cheeks in sheer anxiousness, unbuckles her seat belt. The sight of the hospital kicks her in the stomach as if saying 'This is it. It's either now or never. Screw up and you'll be in deep shit'.
"Explain this to me again if you will," Zoro requests in a bitter tone, interrupting her not-so-optimistic train of thought. "You could've applied for the job as a girl. You look like a homeless child with that shaggy short hair, even I pity you. Why the hell are you dressed up as some douche kid?"
An impatient sigh escapes the cartographer's parted lips. "First off, I don't see why you're so pissed off. I'm the one arriving late on my first day of work because of your unbelievably crappy sense of direction! And to answer your question, it's because this country pays women like shit, Zoro, as you are well aware of."
His brow twitches in response as he says, "Might as well steal the money you need, then. Why bother, huh? Not to mention you're making me go through the trouble of getting you to this damn place every day, so I don't wanna hear anything about my sense of direction from you, witch."
Ignoring his crude remark, Nami lies, saying,"By now you should know that I don't want to go back to stealing."
Of course she would rather steal a couple hundred thousand belis from some wealthy family. But, as much as she hates admitting it, robbery is something she knows she has to step away from. She did, after all, get imprisoned for roughly two months after the Arlong event, as they had found all the money she had been stealing for nearly eight years of her life- it is a miracle she wasn't imprisoned any time sooner. However, once the situation was explained, cleared up, and Arlong was thrown behind bars until the end of time somewhere in the infamous prison of Impel Down, Nami was eventually released.
So, to conclude her state of affairs, she has been trying her utmost best to lay off the theft, as hard as it may seem. After her town was freed from the restrictive, unjust rule of Arlong and his bunch of hooligans, and the money was-this she found somewhat unreasonable- taken by the government and military force, her town was flat broke. Perhaps the country's government locked away the bad guy, but they sure as hell weren't of any help after that.
Therefore Nojiko, with the help of the townspeople, began selling large quantities of their tangerines, along with preparing limitless jars of tangerine sauce. Gen-san not only works as the mayor of their little town, but he also started working in a small carpentry shop to help invest with the money. This, including the innumerable and countless helping hands of the villagers, still didn't seem like quite enough-they had also taken loans from the government at the beginning, to help steady the state of the town after its eight year dilemma.
Thus Nami was lost, to some extent, as she couldn't find a job within her area of expertise-and when she did, the wage was so low it would be of little to no help to her town- which then made it pointless. That's when her savior came into the picture- her little doctor friend, Chopper. He works in an outpatient clinic at the Donquixote Hospital: the most sophisticated, high-class hospital in the country-and to put it simply, he is working as her string puller.
Nami can't seem to fathom how high nurses are paid there, much less imagine the wage of a full pledged doctor. Thus, she wound up spending ten hours a day-if not more- in the library studying, ten hours with Chopper, practicing to apply for a temporary job as a nurse, and a spare four hours to catch up with her sleep- for roughly three to four months.
Long story short, Nami is currently an amateur 'male nurse', with a forged nurse degree, a false ID, and awfully dark circles under her previously crisp eyes.
Or, more plainly put, she is a criminal.
But hey, if the government refuses to do shit about the state of her town, who are they to tell her she can't work as a male? She deserves just as much appreciation and money as any man.
Nami sighs.
"Things will be fine," she finally states, more to herself than to the grumpy man seated next to her. Zoro detects how frayed her nerves are and, while in typical occasions prefers to avoid any type of comforting strategies, gives her hair a rough tousle.
"Show'em who's boss, lad," he says.
Nami releases an irked huff and pushes the car door open. "Get lost."
With that, she slams the door of the car and turns to face the hospital. Her eyes travel down her body, ensuring that none of her feminine traits are exposed or in any way evident. She's undeniably aware of how powerless she is in terms of hiding her womanly features, but hopes the scowl Zoro took the time to coach her how to pull off will get her by.
For a while, at least.
Taking a deep lungful of air, she shoves her hands into the pockets of her pants (something she noted many guys doing), slumps her head, and takes spacish steps towards the building.
The overpowering smell of disinfectant slaps her in the face as she enters the hospital. Nurses and doctors race from one side of the lobby to the other, running up stairs and frantically pushing elevator buttons. The sounds of miserable coughing, sneezing and childlike cries fill the reception area, along with the tedious echo of a ringing phone. Nami scurries towards the receptionist, who seems to be busy taking calls and jotting down notes. With a harsh clear of her throat and, using her practiced male-voice, Nami leans over the counter. "Excuse me."
The receptionist scarcely acknowledges her, and regards her with a dismissive wave before returning to her work. Nami's most common feeling of irritation begins to well up in her chest before she tries again. "I'm here to apply for the open nurse-position."
Hearing this, the receptionist lifts her head. Her keen yellow eyes bore into Nami, causing her to flinch. She has lengthy green hair which is neatly pulled back in a sleek high bun. Her features are sharp and somewhat intimidating. Within a split second, she hangs up the phone, sets her notes down and gives Nami her entire attention. Her lips curl into a clever smile.
"My…" she purrs, "what a cute looking boy you are."
Nami returns the flatter with an uncertain blink. She's unquestionably used to receiving compliments, or more specifically, flirtatious commentary, but getting them in her male-form by a woman gives her an uneasy feeling in her guts. She immediately replies with what she likes to call a 'Zoro retort'. "Tch, don't call me cute."
The receptionist laughs melodiously, "I assume you're the boy Doctor Chopper wants us to consider hiring."
Nami nods.
"Your name, please?" the receptionist asks, more or less testing her.
"Ah, it's Na-" Nami pauses, feeling a wave of panic erupt in her throat. Wait…what's the fake name they chose for her?
The receptionist raises her eyebrows. "I'm sorry?"
"N-Naji!" Nami blurts out, silently praying she didn't get it wrong. "My name's Naji."
"Doctor Chopper has already handed in your required papers, so if you'll follow me…Naji-kun," she says, getting up from her chair and leading the way towards the elevator. "All you need now is the approval of your assigned doctor."
The smile gracing the receptionist's lips arouses a nervous feeling in Nami's guts, as do the occasional side glances she flashes her as they walk across the lobby. In fact, the whole aura of the hospital makes her feel edgy and somewhat anxious. The sounds of the receptionist's heels echo throughout the building as they, at last, approach the office belonging to her assigned doctor.
A broad, suited man however, blocks their way and forces them to a sharp halt. Nami begins to feel rather irritated, not wanting to delay the job any longer. She notes his wrinkled blazer, and his two pocket-stuffed hands. His shoulders hunch awkwardly; down his cheeks run two crimson lines and his long, auburn hair is combed back and plastered down with a sickening amount of gel, making it look as if it has been dunked into a five-foot bucket of oil.
"Good afternoon, Diamante-sama," the receptionist greets, not bothering to introduce Nami.
"Ah, Monet," he replies, his voice hoarse. His eyes skip the receptionist and, by doing so, rest on Nami instead, who remains wary of him but doesn't dare waver. "Who's this?"
"Yet another new-comer, Diamante-sama," explains Monet with a knowing huff, "I'm only shocked it's a boy this time, and not some cliché skank."
Nami remains quiet, although a tad puzzled.
"Speaking of which," Diamante remarks sneeringly, "Traffy's dealing with one of those in his office as we speak."
"Oh?"
Traffy? Nami questions in silence, looking back and forth between Monet and the apprehensive looking man. She certainly doesn't appreciate the way the receptionist spoke of her but, that reflection immediately dismisses itself as her ears ring with the sound of a sobbing woman only a few feet away from where she stands. The voice grows louder as the door to an office flings open and out bursts a fragile, yet charming looking lady with tears drenching her delicate eyes. Her outfit tells Nami she is a nurse.
"Law, you heartless prick!" she sputters, lifting her already-too-revealing skirt and dashing down the hallway, her striking blonde hair fluttering behind her.
Nami's eyebrows rise in surprise, and, forgetting the manners Nojiko so thoroughly reminded her of, she sputters, "The hell?"
The receptionist, with her all-knowing smile, ignores Nami and beckons for her to follow her towards the said office.
They are immediately met in the doorway by a tall, slender man leaning against the door frame. Nami finds herself arching an eyebrow and tracing her eyes up his faultlessly shaped figure, flattered by a long, white coat. He crosses his legs in a rather undoctorly manner and raises his hat-bearing head to face them. His dark facial hair adequately frames his masculine face, despite its messy demeanor, along with his somewhat droopy gray eyes that possess inexplicable, searing attractiveness to them that compel Nami's stomach to flip in apprehension.
His lips twist into a devilish smirk, electing panic within the cartographer before he waves his hand as a welcoming gesture to his office, "Next."
Between all the stories I've posted on this site, this will be the first one that I bothered starting an outline for c8 It felt too dangerous not to have at least a rough sketch of what I want to do with this before posting the first chapter. The romance and drama will be pretty gradual, especially since I'm beginning this with them not knowing each other. SO, if my calculations aren't totally off, this shouldn't wind up in ruins.
A few things I want to point out: Devil fruits still exist in this setting and aren't considered too unusual, so do Fishmen, and lastly…this is most likely unnecessary, but I feel the need to point it out anyway; things aren't always going to be happy :)
That is all, THANK YOU 8D!